AB1808-HPR VIOLENCE: A REALITY IN WOMEN WITH AUTOIMMUNE RHEUMATIC DISEASES?
Authors: A. Carrazco Chapa, D. C. Rubio Torres, M. E. Corral Trujillo, C. M. Skinner Taylor, L. Pérez Barbosa, I. Pelaez Ballestas, D. Á. Galarza-Delgado
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2023)

<h3>Background</h3> Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as any aggression that includes physical, psychological and sexual harm by a current or former intimate partner. In Mexico, 39.9% of women aged 15 years or over have experienced IPV throughout their romantic relationships [1]. IPV in pregnancy and postpartum can lead to mood disorders, obstetric comorbidities, and low birth weight. Pregnant women with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD) are a high-risk population. Using screening tools to detect women experiencing abuse and explore its severity helps us to intervene appropriately and prevent complications [2]. <h3>Objectives</h3> The aim of this study is to describe the frequency of IPV in patients with ARD. <h3>Methods</h3> A descriptive, cross-sectional, exploratory study at the Hospital Universitario "Dr. José Eleuterio González" in Mexico. We included women from the pregnancy and rheumatic diseases clinic (CEER) with a screening of IVP with the HITS scale and categorized them as reproductive-age women and pregnant-postpartum women. We defined reproductive age as the age range of 18-45 years and postpartum up to 1 year after the birth of the last child. The demographic characteristics and ARD data were obtained from the clinical record. Women without ARD were matched (1:1) by age and condition (reproductive age and pregnant-postpartum. A virtual survey was applied including sociodemographic data and the Spanish version of HITS. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine normality. To analyze the differences between groups Mann–Whitney U test, Chi-square or Kruskal–Wallis test were employed. A p &lt; 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The statistical analysis was performed with the statistical program SPSS version 25. <h3>Results</h3> 96 women were included: 48 with ARD and 48 without ARD. The median age was 27 (IQR 24 – 32). In both groups, 24 were reproductive-age women and 24 were pregnant-postpartum women (18/ 75% postpartum and 6/ 25% pregnant). In the ARD group, the most frequent diagnoses were rheumatoid arthritis (22/ 46%) and systemic lupus erythematosus (20/ 42%). The sociodemographic characteristics and HITS results are in <b>table 1</b>. 18 (19%) women suffered IVP: 11 (23%) women without ARD and 7 (15%) women with ARD <b>(figure 1</b>); in both the most reported item was being insulted (10 without ARD vs 7 ARD) followed by being screamed (6 without ARD vs 6 ARD). Threatened with harm was reported in 3 ARD women while physical hurt was reported in 3 women without ARD. We found significant differences between the HITS scores of ARD women and women without ARD (p= 0.007). No differences in IVP frequency in women without ARD and in the ARD group were found (p= 0.433). Overall, more pregnant-postpartum women were identified as IPV victims than reproductive-age women (p= 0.433). <h3>Conclusion</h3> Pregnant and postpartum women are prone to report IPV than women of reproductive age. The current rise in IPV requires us to actively participate in research to prevent complications in pregnant and postpartum patients with ARD. <h3>References</h3> [1] Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Encuesta Nacional sobre la Dinámica de las Relaciones en los Hogares (ENDIREH) 2021: INEGI; 2022. [2] Chen P-H, Rovi S, Vega M, Jacobs A, Johnson MS. Screening for domestic violence in a predominantly Hispanic clinical setting. Family Practice. 2005;22(6):617-23. <h3>Acknowledgements:</h3> NIL. <h3>Disclosure of Interests</h3> None Declared.